Cyberpunk 2077 2.0: Throwing Knife Build

Contrary to conventional wisdom, bringing a knife to a gunfight in Cyberpunk 2077 is a very viable strategy if players know what they’re doing. Small, pointy objects aren’t just great for stabbing but also for throwing. Slinging a knife straight toward a gangoon’s eye socket is one of the most satisfying things to do in this game, and players can now create builds specifically with this playstyle in mind.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s massive 2.0 update added a new skill line under the Cool tree that’s all about throwing blades at things. The following is a build that focuses on making the most out of this new set of perks, as well as the revamped cyberware system to create a throwing knife build that can dominate even the hardest difficulty mode.

Updated November 12, 2024 by Marc Santos: Cyberpunk 2077 received a fairly hefty balance patch with its 2.1 update, though while it has affected a number of the parts that make this Throwing Knife build work, it remains functional as-is. We’ve updated this guide further to account for a specific change from Patch 2.11, and we added an extra section in the skill build section to help players get better use of any extra Perk Points they might have.

Cyberpunk 2077 Throwing Knife Build Skill Trees

This build can be used in both stealthy and loud playstyles, though it is most effective with the former, as chaotic gunfights can cause players to miss and mess up their throwing weapon recovery times.

First, players will want to invest a lot of points in Cool as they’re leveling up before pivoting toward Technical Ability and Reflexes. Spend perk points on the throwing weapon skill line under the Cool tree to unlock the fun new bonuses provided by the 2.0 update. Priority skills include:

Style over Substance isn’t totally necessary, but it’s an excellent quality of life skill that gives you guaranteed critical hits when hitting enemy weakspots while crouch-sprinting, sliding, dodging, or dashing. If you take this skill, you can skip building crit chance and concentrate on getting your critical damage as high as possible. As players continue to level up in Cyberpunk 2077, they’ll eventually get enough skill points to get all the other skills that they want.

Juggler and its Sleight of Hand sub-node are the most important perks to have, as the former instantly returns thrown weapons after a critical kill, while the latter increases crit damage after every Juggler activation.

While they aren’t specifically for throwing knives, the Reflexes and Technical Ability skills above make for excellent quality of life improvements. Dash and Air Dash provide extra mobility, while All Things Cyber and License To Chrome give free stats while maximizing the value of your implants.

This Cyberpunk Throwing Knives build mostly caters to quick and/or stealthy playstyles — players who either have the patience to take enemies out one by one, or those who can neutralize multiple targets before they can react. However, since the skill build above leaves players with a lot of exra Perk Points, you might be wondering where else you can spend these points on.

If you prefer fighting enemies head-on, then putting 15 Attribute Points into Body and getting the Adrenaline Rush Perk should be a priority. This won’t give you any bonus damage, but it’ll help you live longer in a fight. You can also go all-in toward 20 Body and get Pain to Gain, which will recharge your Health Item by 20% after defeating an enemy.

If you want to do a full blades-only build, get to 20 Reflexes and spec for a Cyberpunk 2077 Katana build. Use your Throwing Knives for stealth kills and ranged damage, and when things get too chaotic, use a katana to wipe the floor clean.

Recommended Gear

Any high-tier knife or tomahawk will work wonders here. Equipping two or three throwing weapons is highly recommended to make missing a bit more forgiving.

The Headhunter iconic knife from Pacifica’s West Wind Estate melee vendor is great for buffing headshot damage against enemies hit by the knife itself. Pair it with the Agaou tomahawk from the Phantom Liberty expansion to deal massive damage versus beefy targets like robots or bosses. If you don’t have the expansion, any high-damage knife with crit stats will do, just make sure to aim for weakspots.

For regular throwing weapons, consider using the Javelin mod. It increases the weapon’s armor-piercing capabilities at the cost of reducing its effective throwing range. The downside shouldn’t be an issue since throwing weapons are best used at close range anyway, so players have very little to lose when equipping this mod.

Cyberware

Patch 2.11 added a 450 Cyberware hard cap, and that might affect this implant setup. If you find yourself lacking Cyberware Points, downgrade your defensive implants first before changing offensive ones, and invest points into Body perks for extra survivability.

This late-game cyberware setup is fairly standard as far as Cyberpunk 2077 builds go. It focuses more on improving throwing weapon effectiveness, and it makes use of all cyberware implant slots for the sake of enabling the Cyborg perk’s 15% cooldown reduction bonus.

All of these implants are available in ripperdoc clinics across the city, though some (like the Apogee Sandevistan) will be locked until players hit level 40 and above. Purchase lower-tier equivalents of the implants above until the specific ones mentioned start appearing in stores or loot sources like chests and Dogtown airdrops.

If you want to rely more on your Sandevistan, then replace Newton Module with Axolotl for more cooldown reduction. However, this implant costs a whopping 48 Cyberware Capacity, and you won’t be able to get it until you reach Dog Town or complete Regina Jones’ Last Call quest.